Safety lock



Patented Dec. 18, 192.

s re

ANTONIO SOLER CAPDEVILA, OF BARCELONA, SPAIN..

SAFETY LOCK.

Application filed august 3, 1921. Serial No. 490,741.

resident of Barcelona, in the Province of Barcelona and Kingdom of Spain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Looks (for whichI have filed Ill applications in Spain on August 30th, 1916, No. 62,925; in France on March 21, 1919, No.

' $97, l09; in England onJanuary 27, 1919; in Argentina on December 5,1919; in Bel gium on February 4 h, 1919; and in Germany on March 3, 1920), of which the following is a specification.

T his invention contemplates generally improvements in that class of inwentiozn known as locks and latches and more particularly relates to a safety lock of the type employed for locking safes and the like and has for one of its objects to provide a lock of this character designed to be quickly unlocked subsequent to the actuation'of the safety mechanism by a hand wheel or handle Without the necessity of the use of a key or the like.

Anot ier object of this invention consists in the provision of a lock of the above character designed to accord greater safety than the usual safe lock, the safety mechanism being arranged interiorly of the safe or the like which is to be locked leaving exposed exteriorly only the knob which actiiates the safety mechanism and the hand wheel employed to release the locking bolts subsequent to the operation of the safety mechanism and its combination, the safety mechanism being arranged in such manner that even should the shaft of the knob be cut out it will remain in a locked position so that it is impossible to actuate the safety mechanism from the exterior.

More particularly the present invention embraces a provision of a novel operable connection between the permutation safety mechanism and the sliding and locking bolts, said connection being designed to engage the discs of the safety mechanism when the latter are arranged in alignment and to simultaneously release the locking bolts 'to permit of the latter being operated by the hand wheel and the consequent opening of the door.

The present invention mainly consists in keyless safety lock comprising an outer knob which actuates the safety mechanism but does not actuate the bolts, and having a shaft which is separate from the shaft of said mechanism, combined with a hand wheel to; actuate the bolts, said hand wheel being mounted adjacent said outer knob and the base of the knob and the hand wheel hub carrying the letters or other characters and the index marks by means of which the mechanism is set.

The safety mechanism consists-of oneor more discs each comprising two concentric parts, the outer part of which is a ring resting and moving in slots made inthe uprights of the frame of the mechanism'and supporting the hub or inner part. The hub rests on the outer ring by means of springs and, in order that they may rotate together, the hub carries a pin which can enter in one of a series of holes arranged for this purpose in the ring.

With this yielding connection between the hub and the ring the hub can be pressed out of engagement with the outer ring to be rotated to change the letter combination, and, upon releasing the hub, the pin engages in the corresponding hole of the ring.

The hub carries on its upper face a plate which can rotate, such rotation being limited by screws which pass through recesses in the plate. The plate carries the pin that establishes communication with the next upper disc and each hub carries in its lower face a pin which, in conjunction with the pin on the plate on the upper face of the next lower disc serves to transmit the rotationmove ment of the lower disc to the upper one.

Each disc has'in its periphery a recess and with the safety mechanism is combined a spindle having two pawls one of them adapted to engage in the recesses of the discs when they are in line, thus preventing their rotation'and the other to retain the bolts by entering in slots in the bolts or in the corresponding racks. These pawls work alternately so that when the bolts are retained by the respective pawl, the discs remain free and can be rotated and, on the contrary, when the recesses of the discs are coincident and the pawl enters into them the bolts are freed.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a lock constructed according to this invention,

Figure 1 is a section through the broken line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the inner part of the lock.

I of Figure 3.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 represent to a larger scale a disc of the safety mechanism as seen in plan and in section through the lines VI' and VIIof Figure 5 respectively.

The lock comprises anv outer knob '1 mounted on orintegral with a shaft 5, the

inner end of which is mounted in a fixed support 42. The shaft 5 carries a brake disc 8 and esca ed. to impart rotary movement to the perpendicular shaft 11 of the safety mechanism through the medium of suitable gearing such as skew gears 9 and 10.

On the outside of the door is also located the hand wheel 3 secured on a hollow shaft 6 through which passes the knob shaft 5. The hollow shaft 6 carries on its inner end a toothed wheel 17 which gears with racks 18, 19 on bolts 25,'24,respectively.

Thewheel 17 is located between the lateral walls ofthe support '42 which are bent at right angles to form flanges or lugs 43, 44, by means of which thesupport 42 may be screwed or otherwise secured to the door 45.

The rear portion of the peripheral surface of the knob, 1. is of conical formation and the adjacent portion of the periphery of the wheel 3 forms a continuation of the conicalportion of the knob. The conical portion of the knob '1 is provided with a series of signs or characters 2, while the V con cal part of the wheel?) is provided with one or more arrow-heads, or other index marks 4 for co-operating withtheserles 2.

The brake disc 8 is prov ded for the purposeof retaining the knob 1 in its set position and prevents accidental slipping. For this purpose the disc 8 has a serrated pe riphery engaged bya pawl 20 pivoted at 22 and actuated by a spring 21 which is secured on the support 42 by a screw 23.

The safety mechanism is arranged inside a box 46 located at the upper end of the shaft 11, the lateral walls of this box being formed with wings 47 by which it is fixed to the inner face of the door 45 or to a main plate of the lock.

. The sides of the 130x 46 are preferably substantially square and inside the boxis arranged a frame composed of four uprights 48 (Figures 3 and 4) which, by means of the lugs 49, are fixed at their lower and upper ends to plates 50, 51 respectively, each of which is provided with a central ap'er ture, Slots or recesses 52 are formed in the inner faces of the uprights 48 to accommodate the edges ofthe discs.

The shaft or spindle 11 passes through the centre of the box 46, and bears at its upper end in a depression in the cover 53, and at the lower end is supported in a footstep bearing 12 on the bracket 13 which is the series of holes 68. r r

fixed to the plate 42. Furthermore, the

shaft 11 carries a loosely fitting sleeve '55.

extending downwardly from a disc 54 concentric to the aperture of the plate 51 of the upper part of the frame. The shaft 11 is also surrounded by 'a' screw-threaded sleeve 14 which is screwed in the bottom of the box 46 and can be raised and lowered by means of the milled head 15. A sleeve 16 is fixed on the shaftvll below the box 46 to limit the downward movement of the sleeve 14, and a sleeve 75 fitting the shaft 11 loosely above the sleeve 14 is provided to.

separate the sleeve 14 and the lower disc.

The safety mechanism illustrated in the drawings comprises four superposed discs 58. Each disc (Figures 4, 5,6, and 7) comprises an outer ring 58 the periphery of which is accommodated in the slots 52 of the uprights 48 of the frame. Concentric to the ring 58 and resting on its inner edge, is

located a central hub 62, the upper face of whichcarries a concentric plate 63, which is allowed a certain rotational movement with respect to the hub 62, such rotational movement being limited by the screws 65, which are arranged in recesses 64 in the plate 63.

This plate 63 also carries an upwardly ex-'v tending pin 66.

The hub 62 carrieson its lower; face a de pending pin 67 arranged in the path of movement of the pin 66 of the next lo-werdisc. The amount of movement of the plate 63 relativelyto the hub 62 is equal'to the sum of thediameters of the pins 66 and 67 The outer ring'58 is provided with a series of holes 68and the hub 62' carries a down wardly projecting pin 69 which can be brought into engagement with any one of The periphery of each of the outer rings 58 is recessed as at 70, and all of these recesses must be brought into vertical 'alignment before it is possible to withdraw the bolts 24 and 25 to open the door;

In order to prevent the pins 69 from being accidentally disengaged from their holes 68 in the ring 58 rings 72 are, arranged concentrically over the hubs 62. Pins 73 de pending from the rings 72 loosely engage within holes 71 in the hubs, and compression springs 74 surround the pins 73, and urge the rings 72 against the inwardly projecting flanges of ring members 61 fitting on and secured to ring members 60, rising up from the rings 58. The springs-7 4 thus maintain the hubs 62 inthe-position to which they are set with respect to the ring 58.

The bolts 24 and 25 on their adjacent edges are provided with recesses 31 and 32 respectively. When the bolts are in the locking position these recesses 31 and 32 are in vertical alignment (Figure 2). means for maintaining the bolts in locking positioncomprises a pawl or latch member The to the spindle 11 so as to 37 carried by a vertical spindle 33 which is rotatably mounted in bearings 34 and 35. Towards the upper end of the spindle 33 is secured a pawl member 36, the free extremity of which .is bent to form a dog 36 The vertical dimension of the dog 36 is as great or slightly greater than the distance between the rings 58 of the uppermost and lowermost discs. A spring 76 constantly presses the pawl 36 toward the discs.

When the door is locked the dog 36 of the pawl 36 will be pressing against the peripheries 'of the rings 58, as shown inFigure 4, in which position the latch 37 will be in engagement with the recesses 31 and 32. This condition will continue and the bolts 2 1- and 25 will remain in locking position until all the recesses are brought into vertical alignment in a positon wherein the dog 36 can fall into them under the action of the spring 76. This will cause rotation of the spindle 33 and the latch 37 will thus move out of the recesses 31 and 32 to release the bolts 24 and 25.

The hub 62 of the lowest disc is keyed be rotated thereby but at the same time is free to slide longitudinally of the spindle 11.

It is not necessary to employ a separate letteror character for each disc but a single letter can be used for setting'several or all of the discs. The greater the number of different letters employed, the greater is the degree of security of the lock and with a different character .for each disc a maximum of security is obtained. In certain circumstances, however, the highest degree of security is not essential, but on the other hand, it is desirable to open the safe or other compartment frequently and as rapidlyas possible. In such cases a single letter is used for several or all of the discs.

To open the safe when each disc is set to a different letter, the knob 1 is rotated and its movement is transmitted through the gears 9 and 10 to the shaft 11 whereby the lower disc is rotated. All the other discs are loosely mounted on the sleeve 55 of the plate 54 and therefore are only rotated when their pins 67 are struck by the pin 66 of the disc below. The knob 1 is rotated until all the discs are carried by the lower or driving disc. By continuing the rotation apart of a revolution until the letter of the top disc is in alignment with the index 4,'the upper disc is set. The knob is then rotated in the opposite direction until all the discs except the top one are carried by the driving disc and then the letter of the next disc is brought in alinement with the index 4:, when the second disc is set. This alternating rotation of the knob is continued until all the discs have ben set, that is, all the recesses 7 0 have been aligned under the dog 36 when the latter, by the action of the spring 76,

drop into engagement with their rings periphery enters into the line of recesses and removes the pawl 37 from the slots 31, 32, thus leaving the bolts free as before described. If afterwards, the hand wheel 3 be rotated, the bolts are withdrawn and the door can be opened.

During the open position the dies are held stationary. by the pawl 36 until the bolts again occupy the locking position, when the latch 37 can enter the slots 31, 32 and the discs can be rotated to raise the dog 36 out of the recesses.

When a single character is used for all the discs, the recesses 70 are all brought into alignment with the dog 36 simply by rotating the knob a number of turns until all the discs are carried round by the lower driving disc. When the knob has been rotated a number of turns equal to the number of discs, the reference character on the knob 1 to which the discs are set is brought into alignment with the index mark on the wheel 3, in which position the recesses 70 will come into alignment under the dog 36 and so permit the opening of the door by turning the knob in one direction only. As above stated, the lock is used in this manner only when rapidity and ease of manipulation is of greater importance than extreme security.

To disengage the hubs 62 from the respective rings 58 for the purpose of changing the letters of the combination, the screwed sleeve 14: is raised, until it presses the lowest central hub 62 by means of the ring and successively each hub 62 presses the next upper hub, until. they are all disengaged. This raises all the pins 69 out of engagement with their holes 68. In this position any desired changing can be effected in the combination of letters. To this end, the discs 58 are retated until all the recesses 7 O are engaged by the pawl 36. Each hub 62 is then adjusted until its pin 69 is in alignment with the holes 68 representing the letter to which it is desired to set the disc.

When each disc has been set in this manner the sleeve 14 is lowered and the hubs 62 58, their return movement being ensured by the springs 7 1.

I claim:

1. A keyless safety lock including in combination a permutation safety mechanism composed of a housing, a shaft journalled therein, a plurality of coacting discs mounted on the shaft and each provided in the thereof with a recess, slidably mounted locking bolts provided with recesses adapted to be arranged in alignment when the bolts are in locked position, a spring controlled rotatable shaft, a pawl on the spring controlled shaft arranged in yielding relation with the peripheries of the discs, another pawl carried by the shaft and engaging the recesses in the bolt, a manually operable rotatable shaft in geared connection with the shaft of the safety mechanism for operating the discs to arrange the recesses therein in alignment and'permit of the engagement of one of the pawls with the recesses and therelease of the other pawl from the bolts, a manually operable tubular shaft arranged about the other manually operable shaft and operably connected with the bolts for sliding the bolts subsequent to the release thereof, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth. V i

2, In a keyless safety lock, a safety mechanism composed of a shaft, a series of discs mounted on the shaft, each of said discs includin a hollow outer ring provided with a circular series of holes and a central hub mounted on the shaft and partly enclosed Within the said outer ring,a pin on the hub positioned to engage in any one of the said holes, means for maintaining the hub in yielding contact with the outer ring to prevent displacement of said pin from the desired hole thereby preventing a change of the desired relative positions of the ring and hub, and projections disposed on both faces of the disc in order to transmit a rotating movement from one disc to the other.

3. In a keyless safety lock, a safety mechanism composed of a shaft, aseries of discs mounted on the shaft,-each of said discs including an outer ring forming a hollow box provided with a circular series of holes and a central hub mounted 011 the shaft and partly enclosed in said outer ring, a pin arrangedon the hub and positioned to engage V in'any one of said holes thereby determining the relative position of the ring and the hub, springs for maintaining the hub in yielding contact with the inner face of the outer ring to prevent changing of the relative positions of the hub and ring, a projection on the upper face of'all of the discs with the exception of the uppermost disc for facilitating the transmission of movement of the discs, a'projection on the lower face ofeach of the discs with the exception of the lowermost disc for coacting with the pins of the upper face for ensuring the transmission of rotary movement from one disc to the other reversing disc.

4. In an arrangement as claimed in claim 3 the combination therewith of v slidably mounted locking bolts provided with recesses arranged to align with each other when the bolts are in locked position, arrotatable shaft providedwith a knob on its outer end and in geared connection with the shaft of the discs for operating the discs, a spring controlledoperable connection between the discs and the recess in the bolts and movable when the discs "are set to release the bolts and means for actuatingthe 5.1 A keyless safety lock including in combination a safety permutation mechanism composed of a housing, a shaft mounted therein, a plurality of discs arranged in the 7 housing and mounted on the shaft, each disc 7 being composed of-a central hub and an outer ring having a series of holes therein, a pin on the central hub of each disc adapt ed to be brought into engagement with any one of the holes in the outer rings, each of sired to vary the safety. combination, a

threaded sleeve surrounding the shaft and engaged in the bottom of the housing to raise the central hubs of all of the discs thereby disengaging the pins from the corresponding exterior rings to permit of the changing of the combination, a frame within the housing and surrounding the safety mechanism and composed of a series of uprights having groovesito permit the ringscto guide the disc during rotational movement and to prevent the disc from rising When the central hubs are raised, locking bolts provided with recesses which align with each other when the bolts are in locked position, a spring controlled rotatably mounted shaft, pawls projecting from the spring controlled shaft and engaging respectively the peripheries of the rings of the discs and the recesses in the bolts and cooperative manually operable shafts operably connected respectively with the shaft of the safety mechanism and the locking bolts, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 7

Signed at Barcelona, in the Province of Barcelona and Kingdomof Spain, this 16th day of July,.A. D. 1921.

ANTONIO SOLER carnnvnix. 

